iNeed to Get a Clue
by Old LizzieLove Inc
Summary: As the iCarly gang sets off for college on the East Coast, Sam faces the challenge of firguring out exactly what her future holds. Will a certain good looking tech nub be playing a part in her future? Read and Review, please. SEDDIE! Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

**New story, what? Hi! If you are new to me, welcome. If I am old news to you, welcome back. Whether you are old, new, or just right, I hope you enjoy this story. :)**

**I don't think I need to give any pre-details about the story because I hope the story can explain itself. :) I guess the only thing is that Sam and Freddie are not together in the story at first. Just a heads up. But Seddie will prevail eventually. ;)**

**Let's just jump right into chapter one of iNeed to Get a Clue :D Yay!**

_Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly. Not to say that I am not devising a plan to highjack it ;) Just kidding._

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><p><strong>iNeed to Get a Clue<strong>

**Chapter 1**

**Freddie's POV:**

"Rooms always look so much bigger when they are empty." Carly says softly very suddenly. She takes a break from putting things in boxes to look around the space.

Carly, Sam and Gibby have been helping me pack up my room for the last couple of days. Well, Carly has been helping and Gibby too. Sam will only help every now and then, but more often than not she just lies on my bed. Like right now; she is lying, staring up at the ceiling, on my sheet-stripped mattress.

"My room looks exactly the same. So open and empty," Carly continues sadly.

Carly and I are heading to college and we are leaving soon. Very soon.

Carly got accepted into the performing arts program at NYU. Going to New York is her dream; she wants to end up on Broadway. She has a major talent for singing and acting, I can easily see her on the stage. Spencer and her dad are paying for an apartment in the city for her, but she is still going to try and find a job once she gets there in order to help pay. All of her furniture from her room and a few of Spencer's things that he is letting her take are already on a moving truck and heading to New York. She doesn't get on the plane for almost another two weeks though.

I am going to Boston. I got into MIT; my own dream. My mom is paying for my apartment in full as long as she got to pick it out, and that it has a guest room for her to stay in whenever she visits. I didn't argue; I'm just happy I am getting out of here to, sort of, my own place. My moving van is leaving tomorrow, so we have to finish packing today. Unlike Carly though, I am driving all the way across the country because I want to have my car with me at school. I am leaving in a few days.

Gibby is heading to New Jersey. Apparently, he is going to work for his Uncle in the family fishing business.

Basically we are all heading to the East coast. Except Sam.

Sam's plan? That's a touchy subject. She got accepted into the University of Washington-Seattle, but turned it down. Carly and I were both shocked and tried to talk to her about it and figure out why, but she is the same stubborn and hard-headed Puckett she always was. She refuses to give us any insight.

I reply to Carly, "Yeah, I know. I just can't believe it's already time to leave. This summer went by too fast."

Carly and Gibby both nod glumly, but Sam doesn't move. She just studies my ceiling like it is the most interesting thing on the planet. I catch Carly staring at Sam sadly. Carly hates not knowing what is going on in her best friend's head.

Carly sighs and goes to sit on the bed next to Sam. Gibby and I continue packing and pretend that we are not listening.

"Sam…?" Carly says quietly. It sounds like she has a question but only Sam's name comes out.

"Huh?" Sam says and turns her head to look over to where Carly is seated next to her.

"Have you thought about what you are going to do?" Carly asks cautiously.

"Of course I have, Carls. I think about it a lot." Sam replies, and then turns her attention back to the ceiling.

"And…" Carly pushes.

This is usually as far as the conversation will ever get before Sam will blow it off. I gave up trying to talk to her about it a while ago, but Carly really wants answers. She worries insanely about Sam. Not that I don't, because I do.

"Carls, I…" Sam begins her usual, 'I don't want to discuss this' kind of statement, but Carly cuts her off.

"No, Sam!" Carly shouts and shoots up from the bed.

Gibby and I both noticeably jump in shock. I can see that Sam is a little startled as well, but she remains lying down.

"I want answers this time! I want you to talk to me!" Carly continues to shout.

"Uh, we should probably… go…" Gibby trails off.

"We'll be in the, uh, living room. You know, when you're… done." I say slowly.

Gibby and I back towards the door cautiously, trying not to draw too much attention, ready to run for it and make our escape.

Carly whips around to face us.

"No! You two. Don't. Move." Carly warns us. She then turns back to Sam and commands, "Start talking."

"Carly…" Sam says shaking her head, but Carly cuts her off again.

"Nuh uh! No, Sam! I am not going to let you avoid this again! I need to know that you have something planned for your future! Anything! I just need to know that when I leave, you will be okay!" Carly shouts and doesn't stop, "You had a great opportunity! You had college right there for you! Why would you turn that down? I don't get-"

"Alright!" Sam yells over Carly's rant. She props herself up on her elbows to look at Carly and says, "Fine. I admit it. I have no plan. None. You happy?"

"No, Sam, I'm not happy. You had a plan. What happened to your UW plan?" Carly asks, her voice still alive with force.

"It wasn't right for me." Sam returns coolly.

"And why is that?" Carly questions, raising her voice, obviously upset with Sam's vague answer.

Sam sighs, and apparently decides it's time to be honest.

"I'm not ready for all this yet, Shay. It was too sudden, too hurried. If I would have rushed into it when I wasn't ready, I would regret it. I don't have time or patience for regrets." Sam says very calmly but sadly.

Carly just stares at the floor.

"Please understand, Carls. I don't want you to be angry at me when you leave." Sam says quietly.

Sam lies back down with her hands crossed over her stomach when Carly doesn't respond.

Carly slowly sinks back onto the bed and lies down next to Sam. Both of them just stare up at the ceiling now.

Gibby and I share an awkward glance, not sure what to do. We simultaneously start to back up towards the door again.

"That's just it, Sam. I'm leaving. Freddie's leaving in two days. I'm leaving in less than two weeks. What are you going to do when we're gone?" Carly asks and turns her head to look at Sam.

Gibby and I freeze. Apparently this conversation isn't over yet.

"Dunno." Sam breathes out, keeping her eyes trained on the ceiling.

An awkward silence just hangs in the air. I slump against the wall. This sucks. Sam doesn't deserve to be left here all alone.

"Come to New York with me." Carly says suddenly, more to the ceiling than to Sam.

"What?" Gibby, Sam, and I say simultaneously.

Carly sits up and turns to smile down at Sam.

"It's perfect. I don't know why I never thought of it before. I mean it! Come to New York. You can stay with me. We'll be roomies! You'd love New York. It would give you all new options and it will just be fun!" Carly says excitedly.

Sam sits up and smiles widely.

"You're completely serious?" Sam asks.

"Yes. 100% percent." Carly says with a smile.

"Oh my god, Shay! You're the best!" Sam cheers and throws her arms around Carly, hugging her tightly.

Sam doesn't let go of Carly and starts to bounce up and down happily. It is great to see Sam like this, for the last month or so Sam hasn't been herself really. She was always gloomy with the thought of us leaving hanging over her like a persistent rain cloud.

Suddenly, an idea pops into my head. A really good idea.

"Hey, wait." I speak up finally.

"Yeah?" Carly says as she tries to pry Sam off of her.

Sam lets go and sits with her feet hanging off the bed. Her legs keep bouncing though, and she can't seem to keep a smile off her face. Her smile is pretty contagious too, because I can't seem to keep one off my face either.

"Well, we are all basically heading in the same direction. East coast. Why don't we just go together?" I state.

"What do you mean?" Gibby asks as he saunters away from his close escape out of the door and more into the room, suddenly interested in the conversation.

"I mean, I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. You guys should come with. You know, instead of flying later." I say.

"Like a road trip?" Carly asks.

"Yeah. Like an 'end of summer, before we have to go into the real world' road trip. All the way across the country." I clarify with a grin.

"Yes, we _have_ to do that!" Sam says with a huge smile and stands up from the bed. She continues, "That would be amazing!"

"Sam's in. I'm in. You guys in?" I ask Carly and Gibby.

"Oh, hell yeah." Gibby says, "I actually wasn't leaving for like another month. But I'm sure my uncle wouldn't mind if I am a little early. I don't want to miss this."

"Carls?" Sam says and turns to Carly with a giant, expectant smile.

Carly stands up from the bed, smiles, and says, "Definitely yes."

"Alright then. The iCarly gang is going on a road trip!" I declare.

"Woo!" Everyone cheers out.

Carly and Sam start talking animatedly about plans for the trip and for when they get to New York. Gibby goes back to packing up. But I, for some reason, can't get Sam's smile out of my head.

**Sam's POV:**

"Sam! You couldn't have helped us with these!" Carly complains as she and Spencer finally pull her luggage out of the building and dump them next to where I am seated on the edge of the side walk.

"It's not my problem. You decide to over pack. You deal with it." I tell her.

"I agree with Sam. Next time you are on your own." Spencer sighs as he sits down with me.

Carly plops down on the sidewalk next to us, exhausted from carrying her three stuffed suitcases.

"I did not over pack. Most of my clothes are in the moving truck, already almost to New York." She defends.

I laugh and shake my head, saying, "You just better hope it all fits in the trunk."

Carly and Spencer just laughs too.

"Gibby's here." I announce as I find Gibby approaching us from across the parking lot.

"Morning, ladies and Spencer." Gibby greets us.

He pulls his wheeled suitcase to a stop by the curb then leans on the handle.

"Morning, Gib." We all reply.

"Where's Freddie?" Gibby asks, "He told us to be here at 6:30. I was all worried about being late and he's not even here."

"I think he went to go fill up the car before we leave. He should be back any second." Carly responds.

"Or now." Spencer says and points to Freddie's car pulling into the parking lot.

"Yay!" I cheer and clap my hands too dramatically for so early in the morning.

I am so excited for this trip. I was dreading this summer and rest of the year, but now I am beyond thrilled.

Freddie pulls right up to the curb, turns off the car, and pops out.

"Everybody ready?" Freddie asks, twirling his keys around his finger.

"As ever." I say as I push myself up off the curb.

I see Freddie's eyes rake over my body very quickly. I am in some of my shorter shorts and a kind of tight t-shirt. They keep me comfortable enough to survive the long drive, and are small enough to keep me cool in the summer heat. But apparently they might be a bit too small. Freddie thinks that I don't notice every time he does this, but I do. At first it was a little strange, but now I just ignore it. I really honestly don't think he can help it. If he could help it, he wouldn't do it. I mean, I'm… me.

"Fredman, pop the trunk so we can head out." Gibby calls from where he is already standing behind the car.

Freddie quickly walks over and jabs the key into the car, lifting the trunk.

I drag my bag over around the car. I don't have the luxury of a moving van, so I had to shove everything that I want to take to New York with me into one bag. It is heavy as hell.

As Gibby puts his own bag in the trunk, Freddie reaches down to grab mine. I bat his hand away.

"I'm pretty sure I can handle this myself, nub." I tell him.

"Right. Stupid me." Freddie replies with a smirk.

"And don't forget it." I return with a smirk of my own.

Freddie just rolls his eyes and laughs before going to help Carly and Spencer with Carly's luggage.

I shove my bag into the trunk, mentally punching myself for flirting with the nerd, and then go around to the front of the car.

Gibby is already sitting in the passenger seat with the door open.

"Get out of my seat, Gibby." I tell him.

"What? No! I called the front!" Gibby retorts.

"Excuse me?" I ask with raised eyebrows.

I sit back on one hip and cross my arms over my chest. I raise an eyebrow in a 'do you really want to test me?' way. He tenses in fear but still doesn't move. Just one more push. I drop my eyes into a threatening glare and take a single, slow, menacing step towards him.

"Okay! Sorry!" Gibby yells as he quickly flees the seat and runs away from me.

"Good Gibby." I hum quietly.

I lean against the open door and watch as Freddie and Spencer struggle to fit the bags in the trunk. After some shifting and cramming, Freddie finally slams the trunk shut.

"Alright. We're all set." Freddie announces.

"Okay. You kids drive safe." Spencer says as he claps Gibby on the shoulder then gives Freddie a hug. He turns to give me a hug and continues, "Make sure you call me every day and keep me posted." He turns to Carly and his expression drops a bit.

"I'm going to miss you so much Spencer." Carly says and her voice cracks a bit at the end.

I motion with my head to Freddie and Gibby, silently telling them to get in the car. They do.

I give Carly and Spencer a little time to hug it out and say goodbye before I finally walk over to them.

"Come on, kid." I say and rest a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah. Alright. Bye Spencer." Carly says and gives him yet another hug.

I lead her to the car and she turns to give Spencer a smile before she slips into the backseat. I give a final wave to Spencer before joining everyone else in the car.

"What about your mommy dearest? She's not here to smother you until the second we drive away?" I ask Freddie as I buckle my seatbelt.

"Nope. She had work this morning. So, we said goodbye earlier." He responds, "What about your mom?"

"I stayed at Carly's last night. So, we said goodbye yesterday." I tell him with a small smile.

Saying goodbye to my mom was harder than I thought. I feel really guilty about leaving her. She's never lived in an empty house before and I'm afraid of how she is going to do on her own. But I can't help it. I need to go. I need to figure out what in the world I want to do with myself. I need a change of pace. Hopefully New York can give me everything I am asking for.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Gibby hollers excitedly from the back seat.

I smile at him and then slap Freddie's arm.

"Yeah, start it up, Fredbag!" I exclaim with a small laugh.

"Okay, okay." Freddie says as he turns the key.

As the car roars to life, we all cheer.

"This is so exciting!" Carly yells.

We pull out of the parking lot, all still celebrating, until we come immediately to a red light. The cheering awkwardly calms down and I clear my throat. We can literally still see Spencer from here. In fact, he waves at us again and we wave back. Wow, this is a long light. I drum my fingers on my leg. Finally the light changes and we cheer again until I erupt into giggles and Carly joins in. Freddie just smirks, keeping his eyes on the road. And Gibby seems lost in his own little world already.

I kick my feet up on the dashboard and make myself comfortable.

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><p><strong>Chapter one is done. Pardon the rhyme :)<strong>

**So what did you think? I hope you guys like it. I think it will be fun to write!**

**Please REVIEW and tell me your thoughts. Please, please, pretty please! :D**

**Thank you, thank you! Love, LizzieLove Inc.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey. :) Thanks for the reviews on the first chapter!**

**I hope you guys are enjoying your week and here is another chapter of iNeed to Get a Clue. :D**

_Disclaimer: There was this one time that I totally owned iCarly. Then I woke up._

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><p><strong>iNeed to Get a Clue<strong>

**Chapter 2**

**Freddie's POV:**

After a solid five hours of driving, we are currently pulled over in a nice little town somewhere along the border of Washington and Idaho. It's a quaint place built around a beautiful lake. It had that kind of vintage, old town, homey vibe that makes you smile.

I pull the handle on the nozzle and listened for it to click into place before starting to fill up the tank on my car. We pulled over in this town to get a quick lunch, fill up on gas, and then get right back on the road. We all decided to dedicate this entire day to driving. Kind of like a giant kick start to the road trip that we just all need.

"I got to hit the can." Sam so eloquently announces from where she is seated in the car with the door open.

"Yeah, me too. I'll come with you." Carly replies as she stands up out of her seat.

The girls start to make their way over to the bathroom, and I watch them. Sam has so much extra bounce in her step. This entire trip means so much to her and she has been in one of the best moods I have ever seen her.

"It's kind of bittersweet, isn't it?" Gibby asks out of nowhere from behind me.

"What's bittersweet?" I ask him as I lean against the back of my car and look at him.

"The girls. We get to be around two insanely hot chicks constantly, but neither one of them is ours." He explains.

I raise my eyebrows at him and ask, "You saying that you're looking to be with one of them, Gibby?"

"No. Definitely not. Well, I mean, they're both awesome… And hot." He smirks and I roll my eyes. He continues. "But, you know, neither of them is my type. Gibby has specifics he looks for in his women." He wears a proud grin. "Still the whole idea is kind of funny to me. What about you?" Gibby says.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

The gas meter beeps, signaling that the tank is full and I begin to remove the nozzle from the car.

"You ever think about being with one of them?" Gibby questions.

I hear a loud squeal come from the direction of the bathrooms. I look over to see Carly holding open the bathroom door and peering inside with a mask of pure horror.

"Ew! Sam! I am not going in there! It's disgusting!" Carly yells.

"Oh, Carly! Man up!" Sam returns, effectively shoving Carly through the door.

I can't keep my laughter to myself as I watch the door swing shut.

"Honestly, I wish I had an answer to that question myself, Gib." I tell Gibby as I swipe my card to pay for the gas.

"You're still not over Carly?" Gibby asks with his eyebrows knit together.

"No. I'm definitely over Carly," I say, chuckling a bit, "Dating her would be like… I don't know… Like dating my second cousin or something. Not really technically wrong, but still very weird feeling."

Gibby chuckles with me for a second but then stops abruptly when realization comes over him.

"Wait, wait. So, not Carly…" Gibby trails off.

I just smirk and tuck my debit card back into my wallet before slipping the wallet into my pocket.

"You have a thing for Sam?" Gibby asks incredulously.

I look up at him. He is staring at me in a mixture of shock, amusement, and knowingness.

"Like I said, Gib, I wish I had an answer to that question." I tell him.

The girls emerge from the bathroom then and start to head back over to the car. Suddenly Sam grabs Carly's arm and yanks her into the convenience store part of the gas station, no doubt to restock her snack stash for the trip.

The girls finally come out of the store. Sam is caring two bags filled with treats and snacks on one arm and has an open bag of chips in her opposite hand. She tosses the bags in the backseat carelessly, much to Carly's complaining. Carly climbs into the back to pick up all the snacks that had spilled out of the bag and onto the seat and floor. Sam rolls her eyes and comes to lean against the back of the car next to me.

"Chip?" She offers with a little grin, tilting the bag towards me.

I smile and reach into the bag. Sam quickly pulls the bag away from me before I can grab a chip.

"Aw, too bad." Sam says pushing her lower lip out in mock sympathy but still smirking through it.

I glare at her until she finally caves. With a heavy sigh she reaches into the bag and pulls out a chip. She breaks a miniscule piece of the chip and hands it to me. I can barely hold it between my two fingers without fear of losing it.

"Seriously, Sam?" I scoff.

Sam just giggles and winks at me, popping another chip in her mouth.

Whether or not I had a 'thing' for Sam has been an issue for me for some time now. Somewhere along the way, our irritation with each other and constant fighting had turned into flirting and playful banter. Sure, we can still get riled up into fights and butt heads; it's like our nature, but it's not as bad. Neither one of us really knows what to do with our situation and neither one of us has made any attempt to do something about it anyway. We both kind of just let it be what it is for now.

"Alright." I say as I push myself up off the car, "We're all ready to get back on the road."

Gibby groans loudly and we all look at him.

"What's wrong, Gibby?" Carly asks.

"I'm just not looking forward to cramping myself into that backseat for another five hours. I don't exactly fit; I'm not Sam sized." Gibby says.

"Excuse me? Sam sized?" Sam says, glaring at him.

"Well, yeah. You're a little thing. It's just a fact." Gibby states.

Sam walks straight up to Gibby and, indeed, has to tilt her head back to look up at him.

"Well, Mr. Goliath, this 'little thing' doesn't like to be called little." She pauses to reach up and smack Gibby hard right on the forehead. Gibby whimpers and backs up immediately, rubbing his forehead. Sam continues, "And no matter how little, she can still kick your ass. So keep your 'facts' to yourself."

Gibby doesn't say anything else except for nodding pathetically in fear. I have to hold back a laugh. Gibby starts his uncomfortable climb to try to fit himself into the backseat until Sam stops him.

"But… you can have the front seat if you want." Sam says reluctantly with a sigh.

"Really?" Gibby perks up and pops back out from the car.

"Yeah, but only because I want to sit in the back with Carls." Sam defends as if it is impossible for her to do something nice for the sake of just being nice.

We all pile into the car and continue up on our little trek.

After a few hours, the constant giggles from the backseat begin to drive me insane.

"What are you guys doing back there?" I ask the girls, peeking in the rearview mirror.

"Ah. That, my dear Benson, is none of your business." Sam says in an accent to imitate Sherlock Holmes.

"Yeah, we're not doing anything." Carly says with a giggle.

Sam burst out laughing again, and then turns her phone to show Carly whatever she is laughing at. Carly bursts out laughing too.

"Seriously, what is going on?" I ask them.

Carly wipes eyes to clear the tears that came with laughing too hard and finally answers me, "We were looking up things in New York. You know, getting excited and stuff. Then we came across… very _interesting_ things." She starts to giggle again.

"What do you mean?" Gibby asks, finally getting involved in the conversation as he takes the headphones of his PearPod out of his ears.

"They have a Museum of Sex." Sam reads aloud from her phone.

Apparently Carly hadn't heard this one yet because she doubles over in her seat, laughing and gasping out, "What?".

Sam laughs to as she continues to read, "Yeah, if we can get there soon, we might be able to catch their exhibit on kinks, complete with video, explanations, and histories of how each fetish came to be."

Sam is barely understandable, she is laughing so hard. And Carly is clutching her sides and having a hard time catching her breath. Their laughter is pretty contagious and Gibby and I both laugh as well.

"I think you girls should go. And let me come with." Gibby says wiggling his eyebrows.

"Perv." Sam says with a giggle, tossing a crumpled up chip bag at Gibby's head.

"We are definitely not going to that." Carly says, finally steadying her breath.

"Aw, come on, Carls. It promises to both overwhelm and stimulate you. Especially the part where they show you porn through the ages, then send you to a room full of 'extraordinary sex toys, including one of the most life-like sex dolls you'll ever see'. They even let you touch it! You really want to miss out on this, Shay?" Sam teased, although she was having a hard time doing that while laughing.

Carly set off again into a fit of giggles and gasps.

"Oh geez! There's even something for Freddie!" Sam exclaims, "They have an exhibit called 'The Sex Lives of Robots'! Oh my god! Robot porn!"

Everyone in the car is laughing now. Sam keeps reading off more things and finding more places in New York that seem to keep getting weirder and weirder the more she searches.

A few more hours pass and the car is now relatively quiet. Gibby is silent nodding his head in rhythm with music playing to him through his head phones, and Carly is dozed off against the window. I can hear the sound of Sam's pencil and, every so often, her eraser, as she writes in a notebook.

"Hey. Freddie?" Sam asks.

"Yeah?" I respond, glancing at her quickly in the rearview mirror.

"I'm getting kind of hungry back here." She tells me.

"You have enough snacks to feed an army, Sam." I tease her.

"Shut up. I meant that I'm getting hungry for, like, dinner. What time is it?" She says.

I nod and say, "Yeah, me too. It's almost 6. We should reach some little town up here in about ten minutes. I saw a sign about a mile back. I figure we will grab some dinner and find a hotel in town to crash at for the night. We've already put in a good 11 hours today."

I can see Sam smile widely through the mirror.

"How far did we get?" She asks brightly.

"We're just a little ways into Montana. We went almost 700 miles." I tell her.

"And how many miles left?" She questions.

I do quick math in my head and respond, "About 2200."

Sam smiles and says, "This is awesome. Thanks for finally thinking of something not ridiculous to do, Freddork."

"I'll try to take that in the best way possible."

"Aw, but I was kind of hoping you would take it in a bad way." Sam replies pretending to pout.

"Well then, I'm horribly offended. Don't talk to me. Just sit back and shut up, Puckett." I say dryly with a happy smirk still plastered on my face.

"Oh, don't lie. You love talking to me."

I just catch her eyes in the mirror and smile at her.

"So what have you been writing back there?" I ask her after a moment in an attempt to keep this conversation going.

"What? You mean my notebook?"

"Yeah. You've been buried in that thing for the last three hours. What do you put in there?" I ask.

"Nothing." Sam mumbles dismissively.

I almost can't understand her.

"What?" I ask.

"I said 'Nothing', nub! Forget about it." Sam says with hostility.

I turn my attention back to the road, not wanting to get on Sam's bad side right now. I notice a sign for the small town that is fast approaching.

**Sam's POV:**

After we eat in a shitty diner, we find a shitty hotel that matches the rest of this shitty town. I guess I am being a little over dramatic. But I have plausible cause. One, this town really does suck. Coming from Seattle, stopping in a gorgeous little town by a lake for lunch, and having New York City to look forward to: this middle-of-nowhere, barely 1000 residents shithole is not really cutting it for me. Seriously, the only interesting thing about this place is it has a railroad cutting right through it. Which was cool-ish during the day, but at night when you are trying to sleep, like right now, not so much. Which brings me to plausible cause reason number two, I am tired as hell. Sitting in a car all day takes a lot out of you.

We all couldn't wait to get to the hotel and fall into bed. Carly who may as well be considered part of the living dead when she is asleep because she can sleep through pretty much anything, passed out the minute she hit her pillow. As for Gibby, I'm pretty sure the sound of his own snoring drowns out any other sounds that might disturb him. I am not exaggerating when I say he sounds like a pissed off bear right now. Add that to my list of why I can't sleep. I feel worse for Freddie though. Carly and I took one bed, so Freddie and Gibby had to awkwardly, to my amusement, take the other. I wonder if Freddie is awake; it's probably hard to sleep with Gibby the Great Grizzly right in your ear.

I roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling.

"Freddie?" I ask quietly.

"Hmm, yes, Sam?" I hear a tired, muffled response.

"Are you awake?"

"No, Sam. I'm talking to you in my sleep right now." Freddie mumbles sarcastically.

I chuckle slightly at the irritation in his voice. I roll onto my side to face away from Carly and towards the other bed. Freddie and I happen to be on the insides of our respective beds. In the dark I can just make out his outline lying on his back.

"No need for sarcasm, Fredlumps." I tell him, laughing slightly.

"Says the Queen of Sarcasm." Freddie replies, rolling onto his side to face me as well.

I just laugh quietly.

"I'm bored. And I can't sleep." I say after a few moments.

"Yeah. Me too." Freddie says.

"Talk to me." I command.

Freddie laughs and asks, "About what?"

"I don't know. Anything." I reply. I pull one hand up to tuck in between my cheek and my pillow, continuing, "If it's entertaining then it will keep me from being bored. If it's lame and boring then it will put me to sleep. Either way, it's a win."

"Right." Freddie says amused chuckles creeping into his voice.

Freddie is quiet for a moment, and the only sounds in the room once again become Gibby's obnoxious snores.

"Well, talk, dork." I say, staring at Freddie across the expanse of darkness between the two beds.

"Alright... Well... Uh, aren't you cold?" Freddie asks.

I laugh slightly at Freddie's attempt of a conversation starter. Dork.

I shift a bit in my bed. Freddie asking if I am cold is referring to Carly's tendency to be a _major cover hog_. Like right now for example, she has all the blankets wrapped around herself leaving me with nothing.

"No. I'm used to it." I tell Freddie, "I'm pretty sure that I sleep in Carly's bed almost as much as my own."

"Oh. Well, you sure you're alright? I think they have an extra blanket in the closet. I can get it for you if-"

"I'm fine, Nub." I cut him off with a quiet laugh.

I can see Freddie's smile through the darkness. A calm silence hangs in the air for just a beat too long. Everything is so still in the room I shift against the mattress again just to disturb it.

"So..." I whisper.

"So..." Freddie repeats teasingly. There is a pause as Freddie tries to think of something else to say. Finally he asks, "So what are you going to do in New York?"

A slow smile spreads across my face at just the mention of the magnificent city we are heading to.

"I don't know." I tell him.

"You don't know?" Freddie replies in a whisper.

"I do not know." I whisper back. I flash him a giant grin barely visible in the dark and say, "I just need a change. Something different. Back in Seattle, I felt stuck. Now I don't. Now I just feel free. But what I am going to do with that freedom? Yeah, I don't know. Just enjoy it for now, I guess." I giggle lightly, trying not to be too loud; not that it matters, I could scream in Carly's ear and she won't wake up.

"You really don't have a plan? How can you not have a plan? I live off of plans." Freddie says.

"'We are always getting ready to live but never living.'" I tell him quietly.

Freddie remains silent for a while, processing what I just said, I assume.

"Who said that?" Freddie asks.

"Emerson."

"You just quoted an old poet?" Freddie laughs, "That doesn't seem like you. You sure you're Sam?"

I join him in laughing.

"I'm sure." I say with laughter in my voice.

Once our laughter fades into the darkness of the room, I suddenly feel myself growing weaker. My eyelids become droopy and heavy, feels like there are magnets trying to pull my top and bottom eyelashes together. My pillow is growing increasingly more comfortable, like a cloud cradling my head, pulling me deeper into a world of slumber. From my mouth comes a large yawn that squeaks off at the end. I hear Freddie snicker to himself.

"What's so funny, nub?" I ask groggily.

"Nothing. Just, that was a really cute yawn. Like a kitten or something." He chuckles.

I grumble against my pillow, "Shut up, dork."

The only thing keeping my awake right now is Freddie. Gibby's snores are starting fade into the background of my mind and I haven't heard any trains in a while, maybe they are done for the night. Just like me; I'm done for the night.

"You should go to sleep, Sam." Freddie tells me softly.

"Yeah, I should." I mumble in a sleepy slur.

I open one eye to glance at the glowing red numbers of the bedside table clock and see what time it is.

"Hey. Freddie?"

"Yeah?"

"It's 11:11. Make a wish." I tell him with a big grin.

Freddie returns my smile before closing his eyes to make his wish. I follow suit.

'_What do I wish for? I wish… I wish I had a damn clue about what my future is going to be.'_ I say in my head.

I let my eyes flutter back open as I finish my wish. They are immediately met with bright, brown eyes staring at me from across the space between the two beds, penetrating both the darkness and into my brain all at once. His lips are set in an annoyingly adorable, easy smirk that I'm not sure if I want to smack off or kiss off, truthfully.

"Goodnight, Sam." I hear him whisper.

I don't reply. My eyes squeeze back shut, pushing out any images of the real world, letting my mind drift off to the dream-filled wonder world of unconsciousness.

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><p><strong>Well, Sam got a clue about her future. ;) Wishes do come true, haha.<strong>

**Do you guys know about 11:11? I don't know how wide spread that is, but yeah, it's a thing to make wishes at 11:11. Well, at least where I live I guess… :)**

**I hope you liked this chapter. Please, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! I want to get some opinions on the story. Do you want to read it? Does it sound good? Or is it just wasting time and space for everyone? Please, let me know (nicely.) :)**

**Thank you, thank you! Love, LizzieLove Inc.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey cool kids :) I'm starting another chapter now… Exciting stuff.**

**So I don't know if any of you have noticed (doubt it) but this story is loosely based off a movie. It is called Crossroads. :D If you haven't seen it, I would definitely recommend it. It is starring Britney Spears but even if you don't like her, or have a thing against her, don't take it out on this movie. It is really good, pretty chick flick-ish, I guess. :) I enjoy it though.**

**Anyway, many scenes from the movie are going to be evident in this story, just twisted to be for Seddie. For example the gas station scene and the scene with Sam and Freddie talking in their beds at night, they were both inspired by the movie. Obviously not the same dialogue or even concept, just the scene idea is the same. :)**

**Oh, and don't think that the story is going to be the same as the movie, different plot and different details. :) Obviously Sam didn't run away from home, they are going to New York not Los Angeles, no one is going to try to bring Sam back when she gets to New York, Freddie doesn't play guitar, Freddie was never in jail, Sam's notebook does not contain song lyrics. Sam and Freddie are not Lucy and Ben. They just have scenes that have a similar basis. DIFFERENT PLOT. :D**

**Anyway, I just wanted to let you know now. Sorry that was so long of a note. :) Get to reading the chapter now! Please. ;)**

_Disclaimer: I own iCarly. LIES!_

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><p><strong>iNeed to Get a Clue<strong>

**Chapter 3**

**Sam's POV:**

"Up and at em, Sammy." Carly's overly animated, singsong voice weaves its way into my head, creating a bridge between the real world and the world of sleep; a bridge that I do not want to cross.

"Let's go you lazy little Puckett! Day two of Operation Road Trip cannot commence until you get out of that bed!" Carly demands, pulling me further out of my blissful rest.

I groan and roll over, placing a pillow over my head in an attempt to drown out the voice disturbing me.

"We're high school graduates, Carly. Not spies." I grumble from underneath my pillow shelter.

"Oh, whatever. Either way, GET UP!" Carly screeches somewhere near my pillow-covered head.

I peek out from under the pillow and am immediately met with the blinding light of the sun streaming in from the window next to my bed.

"Ugh, no... Too bright." I mutter and groan, diving back into my dark pillow cave.

I hear Carly snicker. "Well, yeah, Sam. It's daytime; that's what happens. It's nature's way of saying 'Get out of bed now!'"

I inaudibly mumble, "Screw nature," against the mattress.

In the next few moments, the pillow is ripped off my head and flung across the room. Carly smirks at me, obviously proud of having deprived me of my pillow haven. I throw her a dirty look, and then roll over all the way onto my stomach to bury my nose in the sheets.

"Ah. Come on, Sam. Please get up." Carly says in her signature, manipulative cutesy voice.

I groan and roll back onto my side, peering at Carly where she is standing by the TV set across from the beds. She's wearing her 'sunshine and rainbows' smile; the one that can make even the most pessimistic of pessimists believe that today is going to be a GREAT day. I guess I have no choice; she's just going to keep bugging me until I get up. Might as well get it over with.

"Fine, Shay. I'm up, I'm up." I grumble as I sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes with the backs of my wrists. "God, I'm tired. Remind me to murder Gibby when I see him."

"Why murder Gibby?" Carly asks with her head tilted slightly to the side in confusion.

"The trains stopped around 11, but Gibby's goddamn snoring went on _all night_." I groan, letting my tired head drop down into my hands.

"Gibby snores?" Carly sounds amazed and oblivious.

I scoff, "It sounded like a lion was in the room trying to eat him." I lifted my head out of my hands to glare in Carly's direction. "Not that you would have noticed, since you were out cold. Well, actually, not _cold_. Hard to be cold when you have ALL OF THE BLANKETS WRAPPED AROUND YOU."

Carly grimaces in guilt and replies quickly, "Again? I'm sorry, Sam. You know that I don't mean to do that. You should have woken me and made me give you some of the covers back." Her voice drips with guilt and sympathy; way too nice for her own good.

I sigh and tell her, "I'm just teasing you, Carly. It's no big deal. It was nice actually. It was pretty hot here last night and this place doesn't have the best air conditioning, if any at all. I wouldn't have wanted the blankets anyway. You were probably sweatier than a football player's ballsack all wrapped up like that."

"Gross, Sam!" Carly exclaims with a giggle.

"Yeah, well…" I say casually pushing past the topic. I run a hand through my fizzy mass of tangles and curls and glance around the room, noticing the lack of a dork and a Gibby. "Where'd the guys go anyway?" I ask.

"They went to get breakfast. They said that they'd bring some back here for us. They should be back soon; they left before I got in the shower." Carly explains.

I nod in understanding and now finally take notice of Carly's dark, wet hair that she is pulling a brush through.

"Ugh. I could use a shower myself, now that you mention it." I say while pulling my shirt up to my nose to give it a sniff.

Carly gives me an odd look before flicking her brush towards the bathroom, saying, "Well, go ahead. Freddie already took one this morning. I just got out. And I don't know when Gibby plans on taking one. Or… _if_ Gibby plans on taking one." Carly and I both shudder at her words.

"Alright. Well then I'll go take a quick one now." I decide and stand up to grab my suitcase, dragging it into the bathroom with me.

After a short and refreshing shower under the warm spray, I pull the curtain back to be met with the unmistakable aroma of bacon. My mouth immediately begins to water and my stomach growls impatiently. Nobody better touch any of that bacon if they know what's good for them.

I rummage through my bag hastily, trying to find an outfit. I end up throwing on short denim shorts and a white tank top with an oversized blue and white button up shirt hanging loosely over the tank and ending slightly above the hem of my shorts. I fish a brass bracelet that coils around several times out of my bag and slip it on my wrist. For shoes I decide on brown sandal wedges that give my short frame some height.

I exit the bathroom while using one of the cheap, stark white towels provided by the hotel to dry off my hair.

"Where's the bacon?" I call as soon as I pass the doorframe.

Carly springs up from where she was sitting on our bed, the far bed, and says, "Oh, good. You're out of the bathroom. I need to do my makeup."

As Carly walks past me, I say, "Yeah, yeah, great. Where's the bacon?" My voice stresses the demand.

"Calm down, Puckett. Here. Have your food." I now see Freddie as he walks towards me, smiling and carrying a plate piled high with pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, the works.

I drop the towel from my hair instantly, letting it pile on the floor, and take the glorious plate, staring down at it before looking up at Freddie.

"Why can't I have you here every morning to shove giant plates of food at me?" I ask.

Freddie laughs and pulls on my arm to lead me to my bed, where I promptly sit down.

He tells me, "Just hurry up and eat. We need to figure out our plan for today."

"I was kind of hoping we can do some site seeing." Carly says, poking her head out of the bathroom, an eyelash curler held up to one of her eyes.

"What is there to see in the middle of Montana?" Gibby asks with a snort from where he is sprawled out on his bed.

Carly shrugs and responds, "Maybe we could just hang around town then." Before disappearing back inside the bathroom.

"No way. I want to just drive again today. See how far we get." I tell them.

"But being stuck in the car is so boring." Carly whines, leaving the bathroom completely now, her light makeup all done, and comes to sit on the bed with me.

She reaches over to take a piece of bacon from my plate but I smack her hand away and she flinches.

"Being stuck in this town is so boring." I return snidely.

"Okay, so how about we just drive for now and if we see any place that catches our eye, we can stop and check it out?" Freddie offers.

"Works for me." I say, scooping a forkful of eggs into my mouth.

"Sounds good." Gibby adds.

Carly just nods her head in agreement.

**Carly's POV:**

_Click. Click. Click click click._

Sam is going pretty camera happy right now. And I guess I am going pretty camera happy with her because in the last hour alone we have probably taken about 500 pictures, mostly silly ones of ourselves. Then we spend a half an hour laughing at them, then another hour taking more. It's been a process.

"Oh my god! Look at your face!" Sam screeches pointing to a picture on the display screen of the camera.

"Look at _your_ face!" I exclaimed, laughing full force.

Sam drops the camera into her lap and buries her face in her hands as she laughs.

"Alright. Enough of this! Let me see the damn camera!" Gibby snatches the camera out of Sam's lap before we can stop him. "What the hell is so funny?" Gibby mumbles to himself as he flips on the camera.

The first picture appears on the screen and Gibby immediately bursts out into laughter.

"What were you doing, Sam?" He asks through his laughter.

"Let me see." Sam replies with a smile. Gibby turns the camera around to show her the picture in question and Sam giggles. "I was being a pirate! Isn't that obvious?"

Gibby laughs and continues scrolling through the pictures.

"Hey, this one is of me! Oh, dang! I look_ good_." Gibby says.

"You just keep telling yourself that Gibby." Sam murmurs, picking at her nail.

I whack her on the arm and say, "Be nice." With a giggle.

"Oh my god! What is happening in the picture?" Gibby exclaims.

Sam lifts herself out of her seat to lean over the seats and look at the camera. She bubbles with laughter at first but finally answers, "Freddie was about to sneeze."

"What?" Freddie calls, "Let me see this picture."

Gibby laughs and turns the camera to Freddie. Freddie takes a quick glance at it, taking in the picture showing his face contorted unattractively as a sneeze approaches, and tries to keep his attention driving.

"Sam! Delete that!" Freddie demands.

"Oh, that's definitely not going to happen." Sam says and leans forward to grab the camera back from Gibby. She grins down at the picture on the screen mischievously. She continues, "You know, I was thinking I could maybe frame it. Or put in on Splashface, show all the ladies what a hunk you are. I mean, this is what the ladies want to see. Am I right, Carls?" Sam says sarcastically, chuckling.

Sam shoves the camera in my face and I just giggle at her teasing Freddie, shoving the camera away.

"Oh, you know what? I should post it on iCarly. We promised to keep the fans updated and this definitely deserves an update." Sam further teases.

"Sam, I'm serious. Get rid of it." Freddie urges.

"Keep dreaming, Fredward." Sam giggles.

I sigh and tell her, "Sam, give me your camera."

"What? No!" Sam exclaims, "You're going to delete it!"

"You're right, I am. And you are going to let me. Now, give me the camera." I demand patronizingly, like I am a mother speaking to my child.

Sam eyes me for a moment before giving in with a huff and begrudgingly hands over the camera. I take a moment to giggle at the picture before erasing it.

"Thank you, Carly." Freddie says from the driver's seat.

"You got lucky, Benson." Sam pouts with her arms crossed over her chest.

I see Freddie rolls his eyes in the rearview mirror and then focus back on the road.

The focus doesn't last for long before the car jolts and a loud noise erupts from under the hood.

"What was that?" Sam asks, leaning forward in her seat to look at the car.

Smoke begins to rise out from under the hood in large billowy puffs that almost completely block out the windshield. Freddie groans.

"Oh, that does not look good." Gibby says as Freddie pulls off to the side of the road.

We all hop out of the car and walk around to the front. Freddie opens the hood and uses his hand to fan away the rush of smoke and steam that rushes out.

"What's wrong with it?" I ask, standing back a few feet with Sam and Gibby.

"I'm not sure." Freddie responds as he leans down closer to the car now that most of the smoke has cleared out.

Freddie stands back up slightly to pull his t-shirt over his head, suddenly, leaving him shirtless and… buff.

"Woah, what are you doing, dork?" Sam questions.

"Well I am not a big fan of burning my skin off by touching searing hot metal, so I am using my shirt to protect my hand against the heat. Same concept as an oven mitt." Freddie says, not looking up from the car and unscrewing the cap off of something inside it to release a fresh boat of steam.

"Oh…" Sam murmurs, although it doesn't sound like she is really paying attention but instead she seems to be checking out the muscles of Freddie's back as he hunches down over the car. I smirk and nudge her with my shoulder. When she glances up at me, I give her a look and she blushes, dropping my gaze to train her eyes on the ground.

Freddie closes the hood and turns around to face us saying, "I don't know what's wrong but it's definitely not going to want to drive."

I look at Sam again who is now biting her lower lip and openly staring at Freddie's chest. She is being very obvious about it, even Gibby is looking back and forth between her and Freddie. Though if Freddie notices it, he definitely isn't showing it.

"I'm going to call for a tow truck." I announce as I pull my phone from my pocket.

Freddie nods, walking around the car to throw his now greasy shirt in the trunk and to grab a fresh one from his suitcase.

After the tow truck came to pick us and the car up, Freddie went with the car to the shop while Sam, Gibby, and I decided to wander around the convenience store across the street.

"Gibby, go pay for these because I'm about to eat them." Sam tells Gibby as she picks a large bag of barbeque chips up from the shelf.

"What? No! Go buy them yourself and then you can eat them!" Gibby complains.

Sam simply turns around to glare a Gibby. After a few moments Gibby begins to squirm under her glare.

"Go pay for them. Now." Sam says simply and forcefully.

"Sorry, sorry. Okay. I'll go buy them." Gibby scurries away as quickly as he can from the small blonde and Sam laughs in victory, tearing the chip bag open.

"Aw, poor Gibby." I hum before returning my attention to the celeb magazine I had picked up from the rack.

Sam just smirks, pops a chip in her mouth, and then jumps up to sit on top of the ice cream case.

I look up at the line and see that Gibby has about three people ahead of him. Perfect, I'm going to need a minute to talk to Sam. I put my magazine back on the rack and go to join Sam on top of the ice cream case.

"So, Sam…" I start, drawing out the 'o'.

Sam eyes me out of the corner of her eye suspiciously.

"…Yeah?" She asks with narrowed eyes and slight confusion.

"Does a certain devious best friend of mine have a thing for the tech producer of iCarly?" I ask, bumping her shoulder with mine and smirking at her.

"What? No!" Sam exclaims quickly and very loudly. She checks around to make sure no one noticed her outburst before continuing, "Me have a thing for Freddie? You're insane."

"Oh, come on! Earlier you were gawking at him like he's some sort of Greek god." I tell her with a slight giggle.

"Okay… Well, yeah…" Sam stumbles and mutters, embarrassed. "But only because he seriously does look like a Greek god! I mean, I'm not crazy, right? He never looked like that before? _But_ that definitely does not mean I have 'a thing' for him." Sam contends.

"Mhm. Right." I hum sarcastically.

"But god, he looks good." Sam murmurs, narrowing her eyes as if she is picturing it and stuffing another handful of chips into her mouth.

My eyebrows go up and I let out a surprise laugh. Sam turns to give me a quick smile before she starts laughing too.

The bell at the front of the door chimes signaling that a person has either arrived or left. We both look to the front of the store to see Freddie coming in.

"Come on." Sam says, patting my knee once and then hopping off the ice cream case, walking over to Freddie. "Hey. So what's the deal?" She asks him.

"Where's Gibby?" Freddie asks instead answering the question.

"I'm here." Gibby says as he approaches us, obviously having finished paying for Sam's chips.

"Alright. So what's going on with the car, Freddie?" I ask trying to get back on topic.

"It has a cracked radiator. They should be able to have it fixed by, the earliest, tomorrow morning." Freddie tells us, his hand scratching through the back of his hair as he speaks.

"Aw, man!" Sam whines. She had wanted to drive as much as we can today.

"That's not the worst part though." Freddie says reluctantly, "It's going to cost us… A lot."

"How much is 'a lot'?" Gibby asks, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"About 95% of the money we have for the trip." Freddie explains quickly, like ripping off a band aid.

Sam chokes on the chip she was eating and coughs out, "What?"

"How are we going to pay for the rest of the trip?" I question desperately.

"I don't know." Freddie answers with a shrug.

An odd silence settles over us as we think about what on Earth we are going to do.

"Uh… Hey guys? I think I have an idea." Sam says before walking away from us towards the counter. "Can I have that flier you got pinned up there?" She asks the man working at the cash register.

The man nods and wordless unpins the flier from the corkboard behind the counter. When he turns around to give it to Sam, his eyes go straight to the opening in her shirt. Sam narrows her eyes and yanks the flier out of the guy's hand.

"Thanks. But next time try to keep your eyes out of a girl's shirt. What are you, 14?" Sam scoffs.

The guy's face turns a pretty shade of pink and he quickly turns around, pretending to be busy fiddling with merchandise behind the counter.

Sam rolls her eyes and turns back to us, shoving the paper at me. I look down, reading over the flier in my head.

"Karaoke contest?" I ask out loud.

"Yeah. It's tonight and look: audience pays you if they think your good, and if you suck you'd probably get booed off stage. But we're not going to suck, so that doesn't matter. This could be a great way to get some money." Sam says excitedly.

"Yes! I am a master at karaoke!" Gibby cheers.

Sam silences him with a glare and says, "No. No Gibbys. But Carly, you should totally do this!"

"Me? No, I don't think…" I trail off, reading the flier over again.

"You'd be awesome, Carly! Plus it'd be some great practice for Broadway." Sam pokes me in the side and smiles.

"But…" I say hesitantly.

"Come on, Shay! We need the money."

"Yeah… I guess… But Sam, I-" I start to argue but Sam cuts me off.

"I'll go up there with you. Sing backup or something. Just come on! Please… Let's do this." Sam begs, tugging on my arm like a child.

I sigh and finally concede, saying, "Alright. Fine. I'll do it."

"Yay! This is going to be fun!" Sam cheers and hugs me.

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><p><strong>Woo! Another chapter down. :) Cool. <strong>

**I have a quick question for you guys. :D Who should sing the karaoke? Carly or Sam? It would make sense for Carly to sing it since she is like Broadway chica. But, it would be pretty fun to write a scene with Sam singing the karaoke. And I have an idea for how to make it so Sam ends up singing. I'm afraid it will end up being OOC and totally out of the context and flow of the story though. Just random, you know? And, just so it doesn't influence your decision: either way it will still end up being a Seddie oriented scene. (I have a plan already for either one.) Just let me know, Carly sing or Sam sing? :)**

**So anyway, was it good?**

**Let me know in a REVIEW! Pretty please. I really want to read those thoughts and imagine your voices. ;) In a way that is not creepy.**

**Last thing: If you are wondering about my other story. It's not dead nor neglected, I promise. I am SO SORRY that it has not updated. But, I have a four day weekend coming up. :) I'll see what I can knock out, even if by force.**

**Back to this story;**

**REVIEW! REVIEW? Review. **_**Please.**_** :)**

**Thank you, thank you! Love, LizzieLove Inc.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi dandy reader o' mine. :) Are we excited for another chapter? Hopefully, I guess.**

**So, the votes are in. It seems Sam will be singing the karaoke. Oh man, I am going to have some FUN writing this. ;) You'll see.**

**I want to say to all the American (Like me, obviously) readers, which I believe is most of you, that I hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving. And for those of you who do not celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a happy day in general. :D I have to post this chapter quickly because in about 3 hours I will be waking up to go Black Friday shopping. I know, I'm insane. :P**

**On with Chapter 4!**

_Disclaimer: In honor of Thanksgiving, I want to say that I am so thankful for the show iCarly and the incredible creator, Dan Schneider (Who is not me!), for never failing to bring a smile to my face. I know you all agree._

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><p><strong>iNeed to Get a Clue<strong>

**Chapter 4**

**Carly's POV:**

Later Sam and I find ourselves backstage at the karaoke bar from the flier, getting ready to go on stage.

When I say karaoke bar, I mean _bar_. I'm pretty sure we should have to be over 21 years old to even be here, but they didn't try to card us and we're not about to bring it up. It's not like we plan on drinking anyway. Definitely not. I'm a bit of a goody toe shoes, I guess you can say, when it comes to that sort of thing, Sam has an absolute disdain for alcohol after seeing its effects on several members of her family, Freddie is smart enough to know the effects of underage drinking plus it helps that he has a psychotic mother who would quarantine him for life if she ever found him drinking, and Gibby, oh my god, could you imagine a drunken Gibby? I will devote my life to making sure I never have to witness that.

"Carly, what are you wearing?" Sam asks me incredulously as she walks in the door of the dressing room I am currently putting makeup on in.

I glance down at my outfit. I'm wearing a light blue blouse that I tucked into a pretty yellow flowered skirt, with blue flats the same color as the shirt.

"What do you mean? I thought I looked cute." I ask with a frown, toying with the fabric of my skirt.

"You look incredibly cute, in a 'let's have a picnic in the park' sort of way." Sam tells me, amusement evident in her voice. "Just hear me out for a second, Carly." She says as she walks across the room to sit on the makeup counter in front of me.

"…Okay." I say unsurely, staring at her and waiting for her to continue.

"It's all the tips we can get, right?" Sam begins.

"Yeah…"

"So, we should put on a show. Give them a good time if we want more money. Let's amp up the sex appeal." Sam says with a smirk.

My eyes widen slightly and I stammer, "I-I don't know, Sam."

"Come on, Carls. Let's just have a little fun." Sam replies.

She jumps down from the counter and walks across the room towards the cases of clothes. She digs through it for a minute before holding up a shirt, wiggling her eyebrows.

I bite my lip as I look at her. It could be a lot of fun. And that shirt _is_ really cute, but it would show most of my stomach and that's just so _suggestive_. God, this is so not me! Carly and sex appeal don't really fit well together in my mind. Carly and nice. Carly and sweet. Carly and cute. That makes more sense!

"Carly!" Sam shouts exasperated as she takes in my conflicted expression, a smile is still sprawled out on her face though, "Loosen up a little. What could it hurt?"

What could it hurt? My mind stumbles over possible outcomes of this situation. I absentmindedly chew on my bottom lip as I think. I can't seem to come up with an outcome horrible enough to give me cause not to go through with this. I guess Sam wins again.

"Okay, okay. Sexy it is. Hand it over." I tell her with a big grin, holding out my hand for the shirt.

Sam laughs and tosses the shirt to me before turning around to dig through the bag for more clothes. I giggle and stand up from my chair to join her.

**Freddie's POV:**

I watch the large crowd of people laughing, dancing, and drinking their beers as I sit on a bar stool next to Gibby facing the stage. I'd say the majority of people here must be around college age. There's probably a university near here or something. I inspect people's shirts for anyone wearing a college logo that would give me a clue as to what university it is that could be around here but Gibby's words interrupt my search.

"Who was the last person to go on stage?" Gibby asks me before taking a drink of his soda.

"Uh, the guy who sang _Piano Man_. I think his name was like Cody or Kevin or something." I tell him, leaning back with my elbows on the bar.

"Kevin Mitchell?" Gibby asks, looking over the list of people singing tonight that was stapled on a wooden column to the side of the bar area.

"Yeah, let's go with that." I say flippantly, eyes still scanning curiously over the crowd of young men and women.

"Okay, the girls should be up next then." Gibby replies and I can hear the nervousness in his voice.

I'm nervous for the girls too. All in all it seems to be a good audience; they have been pretty generous toward the other acts that have performed. No acts have been booed off the stage at least, and the good acts seem to be raking in a lot of cash. I hope the Carly and Sam can pull this off; there's not really a plan B.

The DJ's loud voice suddenly booms through the speakers, "Alright, everybody. We got a couple of newcomers up next here. A Miss Carly Shay and a Miss Sam Puckett. So let's show them some love. You know the drill: if they're any good, don't be shy to put some money in the jug, if they suck, don't be shy to let them know. Now, let's do this!"

Gibby and I cheer with the rest of the crowd. I pick up my soda, but end up choking on it when the girls walk out onto stage. There is a bunch of cat call from guys all around the stage and I hear Gibby mutter, "Holy shit."

The girls look fucking fantastic. Carly has on a black crop top that reveals a good portion of her stomach with the words 'Rock Hard' printed across the front in broken white letters. She also has on white skinny jeans that are shredded in a few places along the legs and on her feet she is wearing black heels. Her hair is in massive waves surrounding her face that looks similar to a dark version of a lion's mane and her makeup is sleek and black in a way that keeps her face looking natural. Sam, on the other hand, is wearing a black lace tank top that you can see through to her tiny plain black tank top underneath. She has paired that with a frayed, light denim skirt that barely makes it past the round of her ass. The sexiest part of the outfit are the boots she is wearing: tight, shiny, black boots that hug the delicious curve of her calf all the way up to her knee and lift her a good 5 inches off the ground, looking death-defyingly high. Sam's hair, uncharacteristically, is pulled back into a curly ponytail and her makeup is darker than Carly's, smoked out and dynamic, making her blue eyes seem almost electric even from the far distance between the stage and bar area that separates she and I.

Sam takes her place at the one of the microphones towards the back of the stage while Carly awkwardly makes her way to the lead microphone. I can tell Carly is incredibly uncomfortable. Her mouth is set in a frown as she glances around the room with frantic eyes.

Her eyes, in their desperation, settle on me and she exchanges wild, pleading glances with me. I return with a small smile and weak thumbs up, knowing that if the situation was reversed and I was up on stage, I would be freaking out about a million times worse than she; let's just say, there's a reason why I much preferred to be behind the camera during iCarly episodes.

The conversation of the audience seems to be focused on guys admiring the girls, but I do hear a few words exchanged about how young the girls look. I bite my lip and pray that no one pays too much attention to that fact.

The DJ starts the music but the first beat of the song barely drops before Carly desperately calls out, "Stop! Stop the music!"

"Ah no." I breath out, watching as Carly runs to the back of the stage to consult with Sam, whose eyes are wide and desperately confused.

There is a grumble of confused murmurs from the crowd surrounding the stage, all wondering why this insane girl refuses to sing.

As Carly and Sam talk, Sam's microphone is still on right next to them and I can make out a quiet version of their conversation coming through the speaker. It is hard to hear unless I strain my ears.

"What's wrong, kid?" Sam asks as Carly runs up to her.

"I can't do this, Sam!" Carly cries out, her voice sounds strangled and I wonder if she is crying; her back is to the audience so I can't tell.

'_No. Please pull it together, Carly.'_ I think to myself.

"What do you mean you can't do this?" Sam exclaims, trying to hide her impatient agitation and fake some form of sympathy.

"_This_. In these clothes. In front of these people. I'm used to Broadway and cheerful Broadway at that. Please, I can't do this. Please, don't make me. Please, Sam, Please." Carly begs. Carly collapses into Sam's arms and it is very obvious she is badly shaken up by stage fright. Sam rubs Carly's back soothingly, but grimaces.

The murmurs of the audience grow as they take notice of the emotionally distressed girl on stage.

"Pull yourself together, Carls. We're in public for chizz sake." Sam hastily grumbles to the hectic mess of a girl clutching on to her. Carly lets out a loud choked up shrieking sound of embarrassment, and Sam sighs, pulling her arms tighter around Carly comfortingly. "Carls, we need you to do this. It's important." Sam tells her.

Very suddenly, Carly jumps away from Sam's grasp to hold Sam out at arm's length. She shakes Sam gently for emphasize as she speaks. "You should do it!" Carly blurts out as if it is the most amazing idea ever.

"No, no, no, no! Definitely not!" Sam returns quickly, lifting her arms to push Carly's grip off her shoulders.

"Oh, come on, Sam! You're an amazing singer!" Carly argues, defiantly placing her manicured fingers on her hips.

'_Sam can sing?'_ I ask in my head, leaning forward with increased interest to see how this plays out.

Unfortunately, Sam grabs Carly's arm pulling her further back on the stage and further away from the microphone to the point where I can't make out any more of their conversation. All I can tell is that they seem to be having a pretty heated argument. I exchange a quick glance with Gibby as we both wonder what is going on. Finally after about a minute of frantic hand waving and exasperated eye rolls on both parts, Sam's face softens into a look of defeat and she turns on her heels to march to the front of the stage.

Carly smiles and calls, "Thank you." to Sam. She takes Sam's previous position at the backup singer microphone, while wiping the mascara streaks off her cheeks with her wrists.

Sam reaches up to adjust the lead microphone down to her level and a loud electric screech rings through the speakers causing everybody to jump and cover their ears.

"Shit. Sorry." Sam mutters, fixing the microphone the best she can.

"Alright. Well it seems we have a bit of a change in the plans here." The DJ announces through the speakers.

"Yeah, yeah. Just start the track." Sam tells him carelessly. Her eyes widen suddenly though as if she just realized something. She turns to look at Carly and asks, "Wait. I don't even know what song you picked. What song?"

The music starts and the title page of the song shows up on the screen, answering Sam's question before Carly does.

_Toxic  
><em>_By Britney Spears_

Sam whips around to face Carly directly and screeches, "Are you fucking kidding me right now, Carly?"

"You said to pick a sexy song! That's the first one that I thought of!" Carly defends but then cowards back at Sam's harsh glare. "Sam, the lyrics are already starting! You have to sing!" She yells at her, gesturing back towards the monitor.

Sam scoffs as she turns to watch the highlighted lyrics on the screen in front of her fly by. "Yeah, right. There is no way in hell I'm singing that." She retorts. Her attention turns to the DJ booth situated just to the left of the stage. She calls out to the DJ, "Put on something else. I don't care what; anything but _this_."

"Alright, honey buns. Let's see what I got." The DJ says before he starts pressing a multitude of buttons on the controls in front of him.

I see Sam fake gag at his nickname for her but then she looks bored as she waits for him to choose a song.

The DJ finally chuckles and says, "How about this... ?" He presses one last button and the title appears on the screen.

_I'm Too Sexy  
><em>_By Right Said Fred_

Gibby chuckles next to me and a group of drunken idiots in the back of the room engage in a riot of cheers and hollers.

"Haha. Funny." Sam snipes unenthusiastically. "Next." She demands while casting a glare at the DJ.

"Alright, okay. Um… Let's see what else I got." The DJ pauses for a few second while his eyes scan over the screen. "Oh, hey. Come on, seriously, I know plenty of us would love this."

The words scatter on the screen.

_Do You Want To Touch Me?  
><em>_By Joan Jett_

The majority of the bar, both men and women, applaud the DJ's choice of song this time, but Sam narrows her eyes and shakes her head.

"Aw, come on, Sammy. Loosen up a little." Carly teases into the microphone.

Sam jerks around and glares at her. "Shut it, Carlotta!"

When Sam turns back around, her eyes are shut in contemplation. She lets out a ragged breath, but grasps the microphone stand firmly.

"Fine. I'll sing the song." Sam relents. "Dumb bunch of perverts." She grumbles but it was clearly audible to the entire room, I assume she did that on purpose.

The music begins to flow through the speakers and the excited audience starts to clap to the distinct beat immediately.

"Well, if I'm going to do this, might as well do it right." Sam says while pulling the hair tie out of her hair and shaking out her soft yet wild blond curls behind her. A smirk grows on her face at the cheers, mainly male, that erupt from the audience.

Sam takes a deep breath before she starts singing. Her eyes not even following the lyrics on the screen, showing she already knows this song pretty well.

_"We've been here too long,  
>Tryin' to get along,<br>Pretendin' that you're oh so shy.  
>I'm a natural ma'am,<br>Doin' all I can,  
>My temperature is runnin' high.<em>

_Cry at night ,_  
><em>No one in sight,<em>  
><em>And we got so much to share.<em>  
><em>Talking's fine,<em>  
><em>If you got the time,<em>  
><em>But I ain't got the time to spare.<em>  
><em>Yeah!<em>

_Do you wanna touch? Yeah!_  
><em>Do you wanna touch? Yeah!<em>  
><em>Do you wanna touch me there?<em>  
><em>Where?<br>Do you wanna touch? Yeah!  
>Do you wanna touch? Yeah!<br>Do you wanna touch me there?  
>Where? There! Yeah!" <em>

Sam's singing is backed up by the audience, who enthusiastically shout the "Yeah"s during the chorus of the song and now are bellowing out with Sam and Carly:

_"Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah" _

Sam dances around the stage, carefree, and may I add extremely sexily. She moves her whole body when she dances and she tends to run her hands all over her curves several times, making my head spin while watching her. I can't seem to look away though. She's addicting.

As the next verse begins, Sam hops off the stage and moves through the audience while she sings.

_"Every girl and boy,  
>Needs a little joy,<br>All you do is sit and stare.  
>Beggin' on my knees,<br>Baby, won't you please,  
>Run your fingers through my hair."<em>

Somehow Sam ends up in front of me and she smirks at me while she sings. She even does as she says in the song and runs her fingers through her hair, pushing her palms through her golden locks while shaking them erratically.

I'm not sure what my expression is, but I am pretty sure that I am frozen, wide eyed, gaping at her stupidly. Sam reaches out a hand to push my wide open mouth shut and winks at me amusedly.

She then uses my shoulder as balance to push herself up onto the bar stool next to me and then up to stand on top of the bar, quickly turning it into her new stage.

_"My, my, my,_  
><em>Whiskey and rye,<em>  
><em>Don't it make you feel so fine?<em>  
><em>Right or wrong,<em>  
><em>Don't it turn you on?<em>  
><em>Can't you see we're wastin' time?<br>__Yeah!_

_Do you wanna touch? Yeah!_  
><em>Do you wanna touch? Yeah!<em>  
><em>Do you wanna touch me there?<br>__Where?  
>Do you wanna touch? Yeah!<br>Do you wanna touch? Yeah!  
>Do you wanna touch me there?<br>__Where? There! Yeah!"_

As the audience bursts out into, _"Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah"_ again, Sam hops off the bar and makes her way back to the stage. Once up on the stage, she throws and arm over Carly's shoulder and both girls join in singing with the rest of the audience. Even Gibby, next me, is clapping, singing, and dancing. I shake my head and laugh. This place has turned into a nut house; might as well join them.

I cup my hands over my mouth and sing loudly, _"Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah"._

Somehow Sam seems to distinguish my singing from the rest because she quickly looks in my direction and locks eyes with me. Her blue eyes sparkle as she laughs, I assume mocking my terrible singing, and she winks at me for the second time tonight.

"_Do you? Do you?"_

Sam calls out dramatically as the song ends. The crowd, Gibby, and I are all sent into a fit of cheers, applause, and whistles. Carly turns to Sam and wraps her up in a bone-crushing hug. Sam laughs and shakes Carly while Carly starts to bounce up and down. When the girls finally split apart, they quickly bow and wave to the audience, before disappearing backstage.

About ten minutes later, Gibby and I are sitting at the counter counting the money that was collected in the jug while the girls sang. We rubber band the money into stacks of bills adding up to one hundred. The girls walk out to meet us by the bar, still dressed in the outfits they wore on stage.

"You guys were great!" Gibby exclaims as they approach, quickly gathering the both of them up into a giant bear hug.

Carly smiles and smoothes her shirt back down, saying, "Sam was great! I mean I knew you were good. But god, Sam, that was fantastic."

I grab Carly and give her a hug.

"Oh, shut up." Sam responds to Carly with a faint smile and huge blush.

"It's true. You were amazing." I tell her with a large, genuine smile.

I pull Sam into a hug and she accepts, hugging me back.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Sam breezes past the topic and pulls out of the hug. She runs a hand through her hair and looks towards the counter; she asks, "How much did we make?"

"Well," I say, taking my seat on the bar stool again, "We're not done counting yet. But… enough." I sigh happily, nodding my head.

"How much is enough?" Carly asks eagerly, her dark eyes alive with excitement.

"Enough to pay to get the car fixed, and plenty, plus some, for the rest of the trip." I grin at them.

"That's great!" Carly cheers.

Sam exclaims, "Yes! We can stay in a hotel that actually has air conditioning!"

Everyone laughs, exchanging high fives and smiles.

"Alright." I say while beginning to count out another stack, "Well, I guess we should just finish counting this money, then we can head out." I tell them.

"What? No!" Sam cries.

"We wanted to stay and dance for a while." Carly complains in a high pitch, childlike voice.

"Guys, I'm pretty sure we are underage to be here in the first place. We should leave before anyone figures that out." I reason, not taking attention away from the money.

"Aw, come on, Freddie. Please!" I hear Carly pout from behind me.

"Yeah, Freddie. Don't be such a downer." Sam giggles, shaking my arm.

"Yeah, Freddie." Gibby adds tauntingly, his bottom lip poking out dramatically.

I groan and let my head drop into my hand for a second.

"Alright. Fine, I'm outnumbered. You girls, go dance. Gibby, you can stay here and help me finish the counting." I tell them, turning around to shot a quick grin at the now excited girls.

Gibby grumbles to himself in protest but plops down on the stool next to me anyway while the girls run off towards the floor.

Gibby and I continue counting out piles of one hundred and rubber banding them together. The stacks of banded piles is growing and growing; the girls really did an amazing job. I can't help but smile as I replay the girls act in my head, especially the part where Sam was right in front of me, singing, dancing, running her fingers through her mass of blonde.

As the money in the jug starts to run out, I hear a voice next to me.

"Is she with you?"

"Huh?" I ask, turning to face the guy now sitting next to me at the bar.

He isn't much taller than myself but is probably a few years older. His hair is short and messy, looking like he just rolled out of bed, and it is a ruddy brown color, similar to the bottle of the beer in his hand.

"Blondie. Is she your girl?" The guy asks me again.

I follow his gaze out to the dance floor where Sam and Carly are laughing and dancing to the music. Or really, it looks like Sam is trying to teach Carly how to dance seductively which seems to be having a hilarious outcome.

I want to say yes to the guy's question. I'm not really sure why, but I want nothing more than to tell him that yes, she is my girl. I guess I can reason that it is because I really don't like the vibe the guy is giving off and saying yes will keep him away from Sam. Or… it could be something else. I'm not sure. Either way, I can't say yes. It wouldn't be right to lie and it definitely wouldn't be fair to Sam.

"No." I tell him simply, shaking my head.

"Alright." The guy says taking a swing of his beer before setting it on the counter. He turns around to get the attention of his buddies and, with a sly smile, says, "Watch this."

I, along with the guy's buddies who cheer him on a bit, watch as the guy goes over to Sam and Carly, pushing his way between them to dance with Sam. Sam smiles and welcomes dancing with him. The buddies let out a stream of hoots and hollers. I feel myself growing slightly angry at the scene before me and roll my eyes, going back to counting the rest of the money. I try to block out the parade of cat calls and whistles being unleashed by the buddies over the next minute or so.

"Uh, hey, Freddie? I think you should see this." Gibby says, nudging my arm slightly.

"What?" I ask, looking over at him; he wasn't looking at me though.

I trace his eyes back over to the dance floor where Sam is dancing with that douche bag. It doesn't really look like they are dancing though and it sure doesn't look like the picture that the cheering of his buddies paints. Sam seems to be yelling at the guy and trying to shove him away, but he just keeps grabbing her tighter and trying to grind against her.

I quickly stand up from my seat and head straight over to them, not really sure what I plan on doing, but too full of sudden anger to stay in my seat.

"Aw, baby, don't be like that. Relax. Loosen up." I hear the guy saying to her.

"Get off me, jerk!" Sam spits at him, trying to wiggle free from his arms.

My blood is boiling but I try to stay calm as I tap the guy on the shoulder. He turns to face me, still with an arm tight around Sam's waist, and looks annoyed that I am disturbing him.

"Hey, I don't think she wants to dance." I tell him.

"Really? Cause I think she does. Why don't you mind your own business?" The guy barks at me.

He returns his attention to Sam who just makes a disgusted face and tries to pry his arm off her.

I tap on his shoulder again, a little less calmly.

"Come on. She told you to leave her alone." I say.

"And I told you to mind your own fucking business!" The guy exclaims, letting go of Sam and getting right in my face.

I feel my fingers curl instinctively into fists, but before I can do anything he turns back to Sam again only to have her fist make contact with the dead center of his face, issuing a sickening smashing sound. The guy falls hard to the floor, clutching his nose, and hisses in pain, releasing a spew of curse words. I can already see blood seeping out through his fingers as he curls into a ball on the floor; Sam probably broke his nose.

"Asshole." Sam mutters, kicking the fallen douche bag in the gut making him let out an 'oof' sound.

As I gape at the guy now on the floor, I see out of my peripheral vision the guy's buddies get up from the seats and start to make their way over, looking pissed.

"Shit. Sam, uh, we should probably leave. Now." I tell her before grabbing hold of her wrist and dragging her towards the door, wanting to prevent this situation from getting any worse and ignoring the stares of everyone in the bar. "Carly, Gibby, let's go!" I call over my shoulder.

Carly hops over the guy still rolling around on the ground and trails closely behind Sam and I. Gibby gathers up all the money from the counter in his arms before fleeing the building with us.

We pull up to a hotel a little while away from the karaoke bar after an awkwardly quiet ride in the car. Carly and Gibby don't ask what happened or how the guy ended up on the ground with a broken nose, and Sam and I sure aren't talking about it. But it's quite obvious that everyone in the car is thinking about it. We just move on though as the hotel comes into view.

"Oh my god. We're going to stay here?" Carly asks, gawking at the massive building in front of us.

It is admittedly gorgeous. The outside is white and stone, with pillars carved out and balconies perched in neat rows along the walls with shiny golden rails around the edges.

"Yeah. Are you guys okay with this? I mean, we can definitely afford it now." I question them as I pull into the packed parking lot at the front of the building.

"Are we okay with it? This is fantastic!" Sam exclaims, peering out the window with her hand pressed against the glass.

I pull up to the curb at the front of the hotel and turn in my seat to look at Carly.

"Hey, Carls, why don't you go get us a room while we see if there is any parking around back?" I tell her.

With a smile and the uttering of a peppy, "Sure thing." Carly pops out of the car and basically skips towards the grand building.

"She's excited." Sam murmurs with a grin as I pull away from the curb and turn around to head to the back parking lot.

"I think we all are. I mean this place looks awesome." Gibby replies, smiling.

I find a place to park, just as Sam's phone starts to ring.

"Hey Carls. That was fast. We just parked." Sam says when she answers.

I pop the trunk using the button inside the car and motion for everyone to get out.

"Oh, I see. Yeah, tell the lady that's fine. We'll stick one of the guys on the couch." Sam says into the phone.

Gibby and I both turn around to give an 'Excuse me?' look.

"What about a couch now?" Gibby asks, but Sam just waves him off with her hand, silencing him.

"Yep. I just asked them. They're totally cool with it. Quite the troopers." Sam tells Carly, while smirking at us. "Uhuh. Awesome! You got the keys? Okay, well we're right around back. Come help us bring in the bags." Sam says into the phone as I lift up the trunk. "No, I do not know what lot number we are in! Carls, it's not that complicated. Just come around the corner and I will wave to you!" Sam yells annoyed.

Gibby rolls his eyes at the girl's conversation and starts to help me pull the suitcases from the trunk and lay them on the ground.

"Hey, yeah, I see you too. What a miracle. I thought we lost you forever there." Sam mutters caustically before hanging up.

I look towards the building to see Carly jogging towards us the best she can in her heels.

"You guys will not believe this place! The lobby is like the Taj Mahal!" Carly exclaims as she approaches. "We got a suite! It's got a living area and two bedrooms. Oh, and a balcony." She tells us, smiling excitedly.

"Wow. That's so cool!" Gibby calls happily.

"Mhm! I know! The lady at the front desk said that one room has a king bed, the other has a queen bed, and it has a pull out couch in the living area." Carly describes, "I was thinking Sam and I would take the king bedroom, and one of you boys can have the queen bedroom and the other can take the pull out. Sam said you're cool with it?"

"Oh, yeah. I'll take the bedroom. It's about time Gibby gets some privacy on this trip." Gibby declares, lifting the handle on his wheeled suitcase and pulling it towards the building indignantly before I can even get a word in edgewise.

I furrow my eyebrows as Gibby's retreating form disappears around the side of the building.

"Hey! Gibby! No!" I yell but he's already gone.

"Looks like Gibby stuck you out on the couch, nub. Are you guys having relationship problems?" Sam teases and laughs.

"Haha, Puckett. Whatever. I'm fine with taking the couch." I say and reach down to pull the last suitcase from the trunk.

"Oh, shoot! Gibby, wait up!" Carly exclaims suddenly, grabbing her bags off the ground and struggling with them as she chases after Gibby, "I have the key to the room! You can't go anywhere without the key!"

I laugh and shake my head as Carly disappears around the corner as well. I pull the trunk closed and reach down to pick up my bag, but Sam's voice stops me.

"Um, hey nub?" Sam asks quietly from behind me.

I turn to face her and take in her serious expression. Her eyebrows are pushed together slightly and her lips are pursed. She twiddles her fingers behind her back as she rocks on her feet.

"What wrong, Sam?" I ask with confusion and concern, turning to face her completely, leaving my bag lying where it is.

"Nothing's wrong. Just… I wanted to say thank you. You know, for back at the bar. With that guy." Sam murmurs, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, well…" I stick my thumbs in my pockets as I speak, "I wasn't exactly much help. I mean, you're the one who took care of the guy when you broke his face with your fist." I chuckle slightly.

Sam doesn't laugh though; instead she looks up with wide eyes and seems kind of shocked.

"What do you mean you weren't much help? You were huge help!" Sam exclaims, "And, anyway, I couldn't get free from the guy until you distracted him and he let go, then BOOM. Out like a light." Sam smirks.

"Ah, I see. I'm a very useful distraction monkey then." I mutter sarcastically, frowning.

"Freddie! Why are you being so difficult?" Sam complains. She takes a step forward, shrinking the gap between us and rests a hand lightly on my arm, "What's important is that you stuck up for me. Although I don't always need the help, I do really appreciate it a lot." She rises up on her toes because even with the deathly high boots on she isn't quite as tall as me, and she kisses my cheek softly. "Thank you." She mumbles lightly again, a small smile gracing her lips.

Sam takes a step away from me, leaving me in a daze from having her so close and the feeling of her lips on my cheek.

"Y-you're, um, welcome." I stammer idiotically.

Sam raises her eyebrows and laughs quietly before bending down to heave her bag over her shoulder. She then makes her way towards the hotel without another word; just the click of her heels against the asphalt fading as she walks away.

As soon as she disappears around the corner, I let out a long dramatic breath. I lean my back against the side of the car and drag a hand down my face.

What just happened? I turned into a blubbering idiot, that's what just happened. Simply being near me and an innocent kiss on the cheek? That's all it takes from her to completely shut down my ability to think, let alone speak? Ah, man. I've got it bad. I've got it bad for a beautiful, blonde headed demon named Sam Puckett.

* * *

><p><strong>Phew, pretty long one, but AH! That was kind of a lot of fun to write! :D Haha. I hope you guys liked it. Yes?<strong>

**I have been listening to that song nonstop since I chose it to be the song Sam sings a few days ago. Joan Jett is just great. :)**

**Anyways, tell me what you thought. Sam's song? That douche bag who got a little too **_**friendly**_** with Sam? The Sam and Freddie moment at the end there? Let me hear the thoughts that went through your head as you read it all, please. You can do that in a REVIEW. ;)**

**Thank you, thank you! Love, LizzieLove Inc.**


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